Holy Grounded

On Easter Sunday, Sweet Potato received candy (of course) and a storybook Bible with audio CD's.  Every Christmas and Easter, Mr. Baseball and I make sure he receives one gift that represents faith.  Well, this Easter, it was a homerun of a gift. 

Sweet Potato has always been prone to obsessions.  When he was 17 months old, he was obsessed with horses.  When he first watched the Kentucky Derby (at 17 months old), he shrieked, squealed, and kissed the TV screen.  He whinnied, snorted, and trotted around the house, holding his plush horse, aptly named "Neigh."  He pretended he was a horse, he talked about them...constantly.  

On the heels (hooves) of horses, came the obsession with Noah's Ark.  It spanned 4 years with some remnants reappearing in times of stress.  Sweet Potato collected arks (4 official plus numerous homemade ones).  He constructed arks, every day, for years.  I often joked with my husband that we should have named our son "Noah."  

Every since Easter Sunday, April 16, SP has been obsessed with his Bible CD's.  We listened to the Old Testament (he calls it the "First Testament") every car trip for months.  Over and over.  When I suggested another CD, he opened his eyes wide in panic and whined, "You don't want me to listen to...THE BIBLE?"  Well, if you put it that way, I guess we can listen.  I even tried putting a favorite song (Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite by REM) queued up, ready to play, in the CD player.  Upon hearing the intro, he said, "Mama, I want the Bible."  Ugh. Every attempt at redirection was met with, "Why don't you want me to hear the Bible?"

Finally, we ventured into new territory, "Mama, I'm ready for the Jesus part."  He said, "I'm ready for the second testament."  We have listened to the New Testament repeatedly and Sweet Potato can recite it verbatim.  I have attempted to broaden his horizons by borrowing CD's from the library and listening to other stories on CD.  Every attempt was met with the same reaction, "But I love the Bible."

This was becoming a problem for me because the CD readings are calming, and soothing.  I have to be careful about maintaining alertness and not being lulled to sleep in the car.  The sound effects were irritating my misophonia, the inability to process and tolerate some noises.

Recently, Sweet Potato had a behavior lapse of epic proportions.  It involved the iPad.  Need I say more?  He had a tantrum that exacerbated and remitted over a period of three days.  He had several unacceptable behavioral infractions, hitting and kicking in anger.  He lost electronic screens--movies, videos, and the iPad. During the last little burst of the tantrum, after it appeared to be over, he called me a name, not a nice name.  The only remaining effective consequence was...the Storybook Bible on CD.

Yes, I grounded my son from the Bible.  He cried, wailed, and refused to get into the car.  When the actual music came through the speakers he cried again.  "I...cccan't....listen...to... to ...to ... my Bible...WAH!"

Shortly thereafter, he returned to his sweet, unique, positive self.  I complimented him on his choices in behaviors and expressed my support for him calming himself down.

He earned back the Storybook Bible on CD quickly (within a few days) with good behavior.  My guilt about using it as a consequence occasionally makes an appearance in my stream of consciousness.  I think I'm the only parent who has done such a thing.  I hope I'm not going to hell.